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I went back and deleted the duplicate post. I’ve had several instances today of my posts being duplicates when only submitting once.

Anybody ever have a quartz conversion done by Clock Works?? I was contemplating it with my Borg unit but elected t go with their standard service and refurb. Curious if it changed the look of the back of the clock much as that shows when the glove box is opened. I would think it to be the 'permanent fix' though as the electric iterations only seem to last 'so long'. Chris.

Many years ago I had one done by Borg themselves for my 1965 Cadillac Calais Coupe and on the front, which is where the adjuster was, it looked like new and totally stock in appearance. The only noticeable difference was the second hand which swept around rather than clicked around. I have no idea, though, what the back would look like on your 1939 but I’m sure if you asked Clock Works, they would be able to tell you.

I’m not sure if Clock Works still does quartz conversions. Their website used to mention it, but it doesn’t anymore. It would be worth a call, though.

There is another place, Instrument Services, that does advertise quartz conversions. I don’t have any experience with them other than getting a quote a while back. They were quite a bit more expensive than Clock Works at the time, but they also do cosmetic work as well. Clock Works does not do cosmetic work…ie repainting faces etc..

Also, Instrument Services advertises that they sell quartz conversions kits. I may check on that as I have my original clock that is a total mess. I’ll leave it that “others” before dad signed the car to me decided to crack open the clock to fix it. What they did was lose half of the mechanism. I may try my hand at repainting the glass as all of the paint is now gone. If it turns out decent, I may make it into a desk clock for my home office.

I should check out their kits sometime. Even a properly repaired clock has the annoyance of adjusting the rate.

I emailed Instrument Services for a quote - see what they come back with. Chris.

I've brought back to life a few clocks 39-40, one from a very rough car, following the simple tips a friend who is an expert clock repair/maintenance guy. In the majority of cases all that is needed is a little cleaning (simple dusting at best since the covers keep it mostly sealed), oiling (clock oil is cheap on Amazon) and patience. I bought a small 6 volt battery, wire/banana clips, did some oiling and let it run. My friend said it may take a week or so to work itself more free to run consistently, resetting, etc. When it seems to not reset, a little more oil at the points and setting it off again until it runs for a couple of weeks straight you should be good to put back in the car.

Main point being that the reason it isn't running is likely a simple fix. The only drawback I found to having it run again is that I tend to leave it unhooked to not run my batter down since technically it will draw power roughly every 3-5 minutes when it "rewinds/resets".

That's interesting Corey, thanks for posting. I ordered some watch oil from Amazon as you suggested and will come up with a 6 volt source. I have a couple of old sets of guts that I canibalized to come up with my current clock and would like to learn what's involved in cleaning and lubricating. Are there a lot of oils points?? And I have seen folks post about 'filing the points' - are they obvious once one gets the works opened up??
And Don B - I was looking at your glass for your clock and it looks like someone 'cleaned' the glass too aggressively and erased the numbers; I was wondering if you took that to a decal joint along with a good picture of what the face should look like, if they couldn't make you an adhesive ivory decal that you could stick to the inside of the glass?? Just thinking it would give you a more accurate detail than if one were to try and paint it. Just a thought. Chris.

The glass was painted on the inside. It just deteriorated over the years. But, the outlines of the numbers and tick marks still exist. If I can find the right paint, I don’t think it will be too difficult to do.

Hey Don,
Good luck with that. You obviusly have a steadier hand than I! Be sure and post your result, I bet it will look sharp. Chris.